Political Parties, Candidates, and Campaigns: Defining the Voter’s Choice

Definition of Party What are parties?  Political parties are groups that seek to elect candidates by supplying them with a label by which they are known to the public.  Party, political organization whose aim is to gain control of the government apparatus, usually through the election of its candidates to public office Different from other interest groups Parties aggregate opinion What do parties do?  Parties facilitate the process of governing Party in power  Staffs government  Controls public policy Party out of power  Loyal opposition  Offer an alternatives

Three Levels of Party

Party in the Electorate. Party in the electorate  Partisanship provides an identification Socializes, educates, mobilizes  Guides and focuses a messy process Prevents ‘cycling’  Partisanship helps citizens make sense of politics Economizing device, easy vote choices Perceptual screen, lowers cognitive dissonance

Party Organization. Party as an organization  Recruits candidates Manages ambition  Serves as a cue giver To donors for dollars To public for votes  Provides resources Wide variety Money, endorsements, networks, lists, candidate schools

Party in Government. Party in government  Party in government organizes and staffs ‘machinery’ of government Leadership positions, committee chairs in Congress Hundreds of posts in executive Vacancies on federal bench  Party out of power = Loyal opposition ‘Watch dog’ Alternative, ready to take power

Party Systems Single-party system  Peoples’ Republic of China One-party dominant system  South Africa Two-party system  United States Multi-party system  Germany

Attitudes Towards Parties- Bad! Many Americans dislike parties  Founders were profoundly uncomfortable with parties “Let me warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.”  George Washington, Farewell Address1796  This has echoed through history “Parties are an evil inherent in free governments”  Tocqueville, 1831  Picture parties as being corrupt, factional, smoke- filled rooms, not independent

Attitudes Towards Parties- Good! Most political scientists like parties  “Political parties created democracy” Schattschneider, 1975  “Parties is organized opinion” Disraeli  Parties provide a critical link between the public and the institutions of government Educate, mobilize, crystallize, organize Without parties, politics becomes chaos

Party Competition & Majority Rule: The History of U.S. Parties The first parties in U.S. grew from early divisions over ratification of the Constitution  Federalists and Antifederalists  Split continued in Washington’s adminstration between Jefferson (State’s Rights) and Hamilton (Strong Nationalist)  Jefferson formed the Democratic Republican party, Hamilton formed the Federalist Party Andrew Jackson and Grassroots Parties  Jackson sought to mobilize the powerless (i.e.poor farmers  Jacksonian Democrats organized from local and state level  Whig party formed, not around a issues, but as a guardian against the Democrats

Party Competition & Majority Rule: Republicans vs. Democrats: Realignments & the Enduring Party System  The Civil War entrenched the two-party tradition in the U.S. The electorate shifts loyalty in party realignments  Three Critical Realignments: Civil War, Republicans become the majority party and Democrats held “the Solid South” Republicans gain in Midwest 1932-Great Depression, FDR’s “New Deal” Democrats gain majority 1980? Reagan and Conservative Republican Revolution  Party Identification

Four Elements of Realignments The disruption of the existing political order because of the emergence of one or more unusually divisive issues An election contest in which voters shift support in favor of one party A major change in policy through the action of the stronger party An enduring change in the party coalitions, which works to the lasting advantage of the dominant party

Party Competition and Realignment Today’s Party Alignment and its Origins  Party conflict Democratic/Republican difference in social and economic issues  Dealignment and Split ticket voting Cross pressured voters

Party Identification

Electoral and Party Systems Two-Party System Multiparty System Single-Member District System of Election  Single-Member Districts  Proportional Representation

Electoral and Party Systems Policies & Coalitions in the Two-Party System  Seeking the Center  Party Coalitions Minor Parties  Single-Issue Parties  Factional Parties  Ideological Parties

Party Organizations The Weakening of Party Organizations  Nomination  Primary election (direct primary)  Types of Primaries: Closed Open Blanket  Decline in patronage

Party Organizations Structure & Role of Party Organizations  Local Party Organizations  State Party Organizations  National Party Organizations  The Parties and Money Service Relationship Hard and Soft Money “527 groups”

The Candidate-Centered Campaign Seeking Funds: The Money Chase Creating Organization: Hired Guns Devising Strategy: Packaging the Candidate  Air Wars  Ground Wars  Web Wars

Parties, Candidates, & Public’s Influence Pros:  Candidate-centered campaigns get new people into politics.  Candidate-centered politics encourage officeholders to be responsive. Cons:  May become personality contests—like theater.  Create lack of accountability to voters.